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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Simon Price

People’s behaviour at music gigs is getting worse. I have three rules to solve that

Harry Styles At The Bowery Ballroom, New York, on February 29, 2020
‘Harry Styles (above, at the Bowery Ballroom, New York), Drake, Kelsea Ballerini, Pink, Taylor Swift and Lil Nas X have all recently been targeted by fan-launched missiles.’ Photograph: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for iHeartRadio

Earlier this week, Lucy May Walker, a singer-songwriter from Redditch, posted a series of modest proposals for behaviour at concerts under the title Gig Etiquette. The four subheadings for her guidelines were: 1. Don’t Talk During the Show; 2. Be in the Moment; 3. The Audience Have Not Paid to See You; and 4. Have An Amazing Time. The former busker, who had hitherto received a relatively low level of attention despite being championed by Radio 2’s Jeremy Vine, suddenly found herself at the centre of what would, until recently, have been called a Twitterstorm.

Walker’s post went viral, with more than 1.6m views. For some, the fault was the singer’s own. “You should just concentrate on your act,” she was told. Her attitude, it was suggested, was “condescending”.

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